Global shipping program's import charge non-refundable for lost items?

[rongrongshopping]

I've bought a phone from a US seller for Christmas, but never received it. I called eBay and was told there is a mistake on the shipment, so they'll issue a full refund. Moments later I received an email saying that a partial refund was issued. I asked eBay for explanation and after lots of back and forth it turns out that the import charge is non-refundable in case of a lost item. 

So eBay money back guarantee only covers item cost and shipping, but excluding import charge, even if the item is lost due to their fault? Is that what eBay's policy is?

I'm not able to find any word in the Global Shipping Program policy (http://pages.ebay.ca/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html) that indicates this. Wondering if anybody can help me finding it. Honestly if I knew that the import charge is non-refundable I would never use it in the first place. It is a fraud if eBay charges buyers duty and taxes on items the buyer never receive.

Not sure if I can get my money back from eBay eventually, but thought it's a good idea to post this at least to notify other buyers of this unwritten "policy".

[femmefan1946]

I asked eBay for explanation and after lots of back and forth it turns out that the import charge is non-refundable in case of a lost item. 

The 'import fees' cover duty, sales tax (mostly), and a ~$5 service charge.

These are collected by Pitney Bowes /GSP and from them PB remits the appropriate amount to the Canadian government.

EBay and Paypal don't have anything to do with this. And the customer service rep was, not surprisingly, wrong.

Another failure of a badly designed program.

BUT

You can get your import fees returned by applying to Pitney Bowes.

I regret that I don't have the information handy but I'm sure another poster will be along with the address.

I called eBay and was told there is a mistake on the shipment, so they'll issue a full refund.

Which is part of the problem.

With GSP claims, you should have gone to the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page and opened an Item Not Received Dispute.

Then in the Dispute, state that this was a GSP shipment.

Pitney Bowes would then have taken responsibility and refunded you in full.

Once you get the appropriate contact, continue with Pitney Bowes.

BTW, if the item eventually shows up, and most things do, PB doesn't want it back and you can do with it as you will.

[rongrongshopping]

Thanks a lot for the explanation. I wished the eBay customer support person was this knowledgeable.

Yes, the program is so convoluted  that even the customer support have a hard time to understand what's going on. They have helped me create a case in the resolution center, but no mentioning of the GSP or Pitney Bowes. They issued a refund that excluded import charge but the deduction is on the refund from seller, so it seems as if Pitney Bowes has fully refunded their charge, which leads a simple case to a total mess.

I will try raising another case in the resolution center following your instruction. I don't know how to contact Pitney Bowes directly though.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@rongrongshopping wrote:
.... I don't know how to contact Pitney Bowes directly though.

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Send an email to:  global.shipping.support@pb.com

[tyler@ebay]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began I have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread!